[BARCELONA-MAN. UNITED] Needing a composed, determined performance to overcome a more stylish and polished Barcelona, Manchester United instead came up well short with tactics as well as technique in a 3-1 Barca victory at Wembley in the 2011 UEFA Champions League final.

In the buildup to Europe’s grand club finale, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson cited “one or two mistakes” he believed his team had committed two years ago in losing the final to Barcelona, 2-0.

If he rectified those mistakes, as he claimed, others took their place. Rather than play to its strengths of determination, drive and cohesion, United stumbled and stuttered against a classier, more clinical foe.

Each of Barcelona’s front-line trio scored a goal, and by the time Pedro, Lionel Messi and David Villa had rippled the net behind keeper Edwin van der Sar, only questions of where this team stands among the greatest club contingents in history is left to debate.

Barcelona’s meticulous mixture of spacing and angles and tempo can embarrass even a smart, well-organized opponent, and this it did not encounter in Manchester United. The tactics and personnel chosen by Ferguson were questionable, though it must also be stated that except for the opening minutes, United’s sluggish and ponderous efforts were far inferior.

Ryan Giggs, one of the game’s best wingers in recent decades, chased shadows constantly in the middle, caught in a shell game by Barca’s triad of tricksters: Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Messi. Antonio Valencia, stationed on the right side of midfield, gave little impetus to the attack and only sporadically contributed a tackle. Javier Hernandez, deployed as a spearhead up top with Wayne Rooney ostensibly in support, rarely connected with his partner or anybody else, and killed several buildups on his own by wandering offside.

Rooney hit a spectacular equalizer in the 34th minute to match a quality finish by Pedro seven minutes earlier. Pedro, who mostly worked the left channel but occasionally played on the right, ran onto a ball from Xavi and from about 25 yards drilled it low inside van der Sar’s left-hand post. The goal followed a few narrow misses carved open by Messi’s wondrous dribbling, David Villa’s marauding runs up the rights, and the insatiable probing of Xavi and Iniesta.

United got its goal with a characteristic quick strike after forcing a turnover from a throw-in near the right touchline. Right back Fabio played it quickly to Rooney, who traded passes with Michael Carrick and pushed the ball forward to Giggs, who might have been a hair offside. When no whistle came as the ball bounced off his thigh, Giggs relayed it to Rooney for a majestic right-footed stroke from 15 yards into the top corner.

Despite the shock and suddenness of United’s reply, Barcelona resumed command, often riding the ball forward on a wave of clever touches and insidious runs through the middle. Desperate defending at the edge of its penalty area and a few strong saves by van der Sar edged United to halftime tied, 1-1, but a tendency for its players to back up into their own box had been noticed, and would soon be exploited.

Messi, dancing with the ball towards the penalty area in the 54th minute, so mesmerized a quartet of challengers none of them stepped to him. They expected a flick, chip, tap, lob or sudden burst, all of which had already tormented them; instead, his short, quick backswing yielded a sharp left-footed shot that skipped past van der Sar’s surprised, late dive.

The keeper kept his team in the game by flying sideways to parry Xavi’s belter from that same mid-range distance, but United ceded control of that area and its resilience unraveled. Fifteen minutes after Messi’s winner came the clincher, when from the dead zone outside the United penalty area Barca came alive yet again.

Substitute Nani lost the ball to Messi near the sideline, and Sergio Busquets swept it inside to Villa for a curling shot over yet another despairing lunge from van der Sar and into the top corner.

More was needed to win this final than magical Messi and his merry pranksters. Injured captain Carles Puyol played only the final few minutes; Javier Mascherano replaced him as Gerald Pique’s partner in central defense, and after a few anxious minutes of sorting spacing and assignments, they blotted out Hernandez and pushed Rooney to the left flank, from where he hit ineffective crosses repelled by Pique or snagged by Victor Valdes.

Otherwise, Valdes seldom intervened, yet once in each half he stormed off his line to clear balls about to drop for Rooney or Hernandez. He also reacted instantly to kick away a risky touch from Pique, who had steered a through ball to his keeper in tight space with Hernandez bearing down. Valdes did not post an official save. Daniel Alves, along with Villa, owned the right flank for long stretches; left back Eric Abidal relentlessly played the full 90 minutes two months after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.

Not all of United’s players were out-gunned. Van der Sar heroically marked his final appearance for the club with nine saves. Centerback Nemanja Vidic cleared out a lot of clutter in the goalmouth. Carrick broke up plays and distributed the ball crisply before being overwhelmed by numbers and pressure, as did Park Ji Sung. And Rooney played with all the heart and guile and power that have scourged teams for more than a decade. But against a great team, half a team isn't nearly enough.

With two minutes remaining, Barca coach Pep Guardiola sent on Puyol, the warrior defender of long service and flowing tresses. Vast sections of Wembley morphed into a roiling sea of blaugrana bliss, stirring tribute to a mesmerizing way of play which also wins.

It was outstanding play by both clubs, a great tribute to each. The play by play from Fox Sports was boorish at best, it was best to mute the sound and just watch the play on the pitch. Once again, outstanding PLAY!!!

David Sirias

commented on: May 29, 2011 at 1:15 p.m.

Any good coach on the planet coaching anywhere from u-12 to MLS would make his players study Barcelona in this game, paying particular attention to the movement off the ball, the movement after passing, the spacing. Yes they have world class finishers and world class passers and world class touch. Basic skills mastered. Thats what everyone teaches. Ah but the movement and spacing and triangles that simply emerge where there were none. That is what makes a good team great. That's what kids need up learn in the formative years if they want to even sniff the field for a world class side

Chris Morris

commented on: May 29, 2011 at 1:34 p.m.

Agree with Ridge Mahoney’s assessment of United ‘s tactics. They had a Plan A that worked, for the first 15 minutes or so. But it was unrealistic to think it could be sustained for the entire game, and Barça adjusted by spreading the ball around more. Busquests and the center backs also got in sync to deal with United’s long balls. That meant it was time for a Plan B, which never materialized. Players who might have provided some skill and inspiration either were left out or brought on when it was too late (e.g., Scholes). Especially, Sir Alex painted himself into a corner by dropping Berbatov, whose ability to hold the ball might have troubled Barça. Instead he was forced to persist for the entire game with Hernandez, an excellent goal poacher but not a possession player even at his best, and in this instance clearly not prepared for such a big occasion. But then again, a team could be tactically perfect against Barça and still lose!

George Harrison (Jr.)

commented on: May 29, 2011 at 3:12 p.m.

David, I couldn't agree with you more. The USA's young players should watch and study Barca, the crisp passing, absolute control of the ball at your feet, movement off the ball, it goes on and on... it was lovely to watch, they basically picked Man U apart.

Rick Figueiredo

commented on: May 29, 2011 at 7:02 p.m.

Nice analysis. A few comments on this game: Good game from Barca's point of view. Very nice team. Lot
to learn from them. Man U is a couple levels below at this time.
Man U looked like
zombies after the first 10 mins. I don't know what Ferguson was thinking. U
cannot just let Barca move around free outside your penalty box. Back in another game Shaktar played Barca well for a while with a high pressure pace and broke their rhythm
but they failed to score a goal and eventually ran out of what I call high
pressure ratio. 90 mins is the max hp and few teams have a 70 min hpr. So a
team needs to understand their hp ratio.
Also Real Madrid in the first half of Copa del Rey played correctly and broke
the patterns. Then Mourinho backed off in the second half and got a
magnificient sequence ending in Ronaldo's goal to win the thing in OT. Barca
was still the better team.
Sometimes it puzzles me that a coach of Ferguson's caliber fails to see the
solution. Yes Barca is a great precision team. But the Man U players were almost as much spectators as the spectators!
The game I really want to see is Barca - Santos. The reason is Neymar (who is
one of the top 5 players in the world at 19 years old right now), and also I
think that a high paced game can break the Barca tempo.
Santos of Brasil is mostly 19-23 year olds so they are well
conditioned and Neyamr will be as much a distration as Messi is, and Brasilian teams play at a super fast pace with high technical
quality. So it will be a spectacular game. Unfortunately, most europeans will
underplay the value of the game as they think uefa cup is the ultimate. Naive. Club championships are about 50-50 at this point historically.
The commentary by Wynalda and the other two on USA TV was rediculous. To think that a european based club tournament is better and bigger than the world cup is beyond stupid. And shows their ignorance of the game.